Adjustable suitmate mock blouse

ABSTRACT

A “SuiteMate” mock blouse comprising a panel of decorative fabric that spans the chest area and which attaches at its upper corners to a user&#39;s bra straps by Velcro® attachments or fabric clamps, or to the skin by self-adhesive skin attachments. The mock blouse is secured at the lower corners around the upper waist by tie-strings. The mock blouse minimally covers the body in the chest area and ensures much greater breathability and comfort. The convenient attachments and tie-strings hold the mock blouse securely in place, and allow more convenient no-fuss application.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application derives priority from provisional patentapplication No. 60/689,291, filed Jun. 10, 2005.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to ladies garments and, more particularly,to a mock blouse for more comfort, convenience, and economy of wear.

2. Description of the Background

Blouses are a basic clothing item and add versatility to one's wardrobe.A simple change of blouse can give a skirt, suit or pair of slacks acompletely new look. There are a variety of conventional blousesincluding button-up shirts, halter-tops, and the like. These may be madeof silk, cotton, Rayon, Polyester or the like. Typically, the design ofa blouse is matched to the style of the garment with which it will beworn. A casual design would be suitable for casual wear, a tailoreddesign for a suit blouse, and a dressy design for special occasion wear.Design may include the use of trims and buttons. Unfortunately, qualitysilk halter-top (or camisole) blouses are becoming extremely expensive,upward of $60-70 per. It becomes a costly proposition to buy a silkhalter-top blouse for each suit in one's closet. Moreover, silkhalter-top blouses can be very uncomfortable as they provide very littleventing. Most silk halter-top blouses are essentially a close-fittingshirt to be worn beneath a suit jacket, and silk is not a breathablefabric. It would be greatly advantageous to provide a mock blouse forgreater economy, more comfort, and ease of wearing.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is, therefore, the primary object of the present invention to providea mock blouse that can be manufactured at low cost for greater economy.

It is another object to provide a mock blouse that minimally covers thebody only in the desired areas for greater breathability and comfort.

It is still another object to provide a mock blouse that is wornsecurely beneath a suit jacket by ready attachment to the waist via atie-string, and to the bra via reclosable Velcro® or clamp attachments,thereby facilitating more convenient no-fuss application.

These and other objects are accomplished by a “SuiteMate” mock blousecomprising a panel of decorative fabric that spans the chest area andwhich attaches at its upper corners to a user's bra straps by Velcro® orclamp attachments, and which is secured at the lower corners around theupper waist by tie-strings. The mock blouse may be adorned along itsupper periphery by a strip of trim, tassels or other decorations to givea more elegant appearance. Since the material costs of the mock blouseare greatly reduced in comparison to full body blouses they can bemanufactured at low cost for greater economy, and most wearers canafford a greater variety in their wardrobe. Moreover, the mock blouseonly minimally covers the body in the chest area and ensures muchgreater breathability and comfort. The convenient Velcro® or clamp braattachments and tie-strings hold the mock blouse securely in place, andallow more convenient no-fuss application.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Other objects, features, and advantages of the present invention willbecome more apparent from the following detailed description of thepreferred embodiments and certain modifications thereof when takentogether with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 shows a “SuiteMate” mock blouse 2 worn beneath a conventionalbusiness jacket.

FIG. 2 is an application drawing of the mock blouse 2 of FIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

The present invention is a mock blouse for more comfort, convenience,and economy of wear.

FIG. 1 shows the “SuiteMate” mock blouse 2 according to the presentinvention being worn beneath a conventional business jacket. Clearly,the mock blouse 2 appears as an ordinary camisole or halter-top blouse,and yet provides the advantages to be described.

FIG. 2 is an application drawing of the mock blouse 2 of FIG. 1. Themock blouse 2 generally comprises a substantially rectangular panel ofdecorative fabric 4 dimensioned to substantially span the chest area atthe sternum. As seen in FIG. 1 the fabric panel 4 is patterned withvertical dimensions suited for covering the stomach area, in which caseit comes across the stomach to meet the skirt or pants. Such dimensionsare best suited to be worn with an open jacket as it will cover thestomach. However, the vertical dimensions may be varied as desired, andas seen in FIG. 2 (described below) the fabric panel 4 may be shorter,terminating just below the chest. Shorter vertical dimensions are bettersuited to be worn with a closed jacket as it will not cover the stomach.

The fabric panel 4 may be adorned along its upper periphery with trim,such as tassels, buttons, lace, or the like, as desired. The fabricpanel 4 may be equipped with hook or loop attachment pads 8A & 8B (suchas Velcro®) at both its upper corners for attachment to a user's brastraps, fabric clamps at both its upper corners for attachment to auser's bra straps, or self-adhesive skin attachable pads at both itsupper corners for attachment directly to the skin in the same area. Ifdesigned for bra attachment using hook and loop pads, mating pads mustbe applied to the bra straps as indicated at right in FIG. 2. Ifdesigned for bra attachment using fabric clamps, conventional fabricclamps such as used on clip-on suspenders may be used.

The fabric panel 4 is equipped at its lower corners with opposingtie-strings 9A & 9B for tying around the upper waist area. Thecombination of upper hook and loop pads, fabric clamps, or self-adhesiveattachments 8A & 8B and lower tie string attachments 9A & 9B ensure avery secure fit and dependable worry-free adhesion. In use, the wearersimply dons a bra (if necessary, with mating Velcro attachment padspre-applied), holds the mock blouse 2 up across the chest, attaches theattachment pads 8A & 8B, clamps or self-adhesive pads as indicated, andties the tie string attachments 9A & 9B around the upper waist. A jacketis then worn overtop, giving the full-blouse appearance with open jacketas in FIG. 1, or a full-blouse appearance with closed jacket as in FIG.2. Since the material costs of the mock blouse 2 are much less than fullbody blouses they can be manufactured at low cost for greater economy,and most wearers can afford a greater variety in their wardrobe.Moreover, the mock blouse 2 only minimally covers the body in the chestarea and ensures much greater breathability and comfort. The convenientVelcro® bra attachments 8A & 8B (or alternate fabric clamps or skinadhesive) and tie-strings 9A & 9B hold the mock blouse securely inplace, and allow for simple no-fuss application.

Having now fully set forth the preferred embodiment and certainmodifications of the concept underlying the present invention, variousother embodiments as well as certain variations and modifications of theembodiments herein shown and described will obviously occur to thoseskilled in the art upon becoming familiar with said underlying concept.It is to be understood, therefore, that the invention may be practicedotherwise than as specifically set forth in the appended claims.

1. A mock blouse comprising: a rectangular fabric panel including anupper periphery bounded by a right upper corner and a left upper corner,and a lower periphery bounded by a right lower corner and a left lowercorner; a pair of attachment means attached to said right and left uppercorners for attaching said upper corners to two bra straps for simpleno-fuss application; and a pair of tie-strings connected to said rightand left lower corners for tying said tie-strings around a user's waist,whereby said mock blouse minimally covers a user's chest to ensuregreater breathability and comfort.
 2. A mock blouse according to claim1, wherein said upper periphery is adorned with trim including tassels,buttons, or lace.
 3. A mock blouse according to claim 1, wherein saidblouse can be worn under a conventional business jacket.
 4. A mockblouse according to claim 1, wherein said pair of attachment means isconventional fabric clamps.
 5. A mock blouse according to claim 4,wherein said fabric clamps are clip-on suspenders.
 6. A mock blousecomprising: a rectangular fabric panel including an upper peripherybounded by a right upper corner and a left upper corner, and a lowerperiphery bounded by a right lower corner and a left lower corner; apair of self-adhesive skin attachable pads attached to said right andleft upper corners for attaching said upper corners directly to a user'sskin at the left and right ends of the clavicle, for simple no-fussapplication; and a pair of tie-strings connected to said right and leftlower corners for tying said tie-strings around a user's waist, wherebysaid mock blouse minimally covers a user's chest to ensure greaterbreathability and comfort.
 7. A mock blouse according to claim 6,wherein said upper periphery is adorned with trim including tassels,buttons, or lace.
 8. A mock blouse according to claim 6, wherein saidblouse can be worn under a conventional business jacket.
 9. A mockblouse comprising: a rectangular fabric panel including an upperperiphery bounded by a right upper corner and a left upper corner, and alower periphery bounded by a right lower corner and a left lower corner;a pair of opposing hook and loop pads attached to said right and leftupper corners; a bra having right and left bra straps, and a pair ofmating pads attached to said straps for attaching said mating pads tosaid opposing hook and loop pads, for simple no-fuss application; and apair of tie-strings connected to said right and left lower corners fortying said tie-strings around a user's waist, whereby said mock blouseminimally covers a user's chest to ensure greater breathability andcomfort.
 10. A mock blouse according to claim 9, wherein said upperperiphery is adorned with trim including tassels, buttons, or lace. 11.A mock blouse according to claim 9, wherein said blouse can be wornunder a conventional business jacket.